ISLAMABAD: Lawyers for Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan were on Tuesday (Aug 8) set to file a bail application for him, as he languished in a small cell of a century-old prison at the start of a three-year jail term for graft.
The former international cricket star was arrested Saturday and whisked to prison after being found guilty in one of the more than 200 cases he has faced since being ousted from office by a vote of no confidence in April 2022.
The jail term has ruled him out from contesting upcoming elections.
Khan is being held at a colonial-era jail on the outskirts of historical Attock city, around 60km west of the capital Islamabad.
His lawyers will file an application for bail on Tuesday at Islamabad high court after visiting him in prison to obtain power of attorney, his spokesman Raoof Hasan told AFP.
“He is being held in deplorable conditions not fit for any human, but he is in good spirits,” Hasan said.
“He said to ‘tell the people that I will not compromise on my principles’.”
The 70-year-old is being held in a so-called “C-class cell”, sleeping on a mattress on the floor with only enough room for a prayer mat.
There is little access to daylight and a fan but no air conditioner in the summer heat, Hasan said.
Power of attorney allows Khan’s legal team to file a bail application on his behalf and also appeal for him to be moved into a more comfortable “A-class cell,” usually reserved for VIP inmates.
“We’re hopeful that we will be able to secure bail and the decision will be suspended and the disqualification revoked,” said Hasan.
Source: CNA
